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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27897595">it's nice to have a friend (family lasts forever)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/catastrophicgaymess/pseuds/catastrophicgaymess'>catastrophicgaymess</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), DCU</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Legends of Tomorrow Team are Family, The Waverider (DC's Legends of Tomorrow)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 09:35:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,042</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27897595</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/catastrophicgaymess/pseuds/catastrophicgaymess</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ava joins the Legends because of a request from Rip.</p><p>'The one thing that stuck with her the whole time was how the Legends, through thick and thin, had stuck together as a family.'</p><p>'But of course, Ava Sharp was strong, had always been strong and independent, and she knew she had a job to do and couldn’t waste her time on silly little emotions like these.'</p><p>Or, </p><p>The Legends welcome Ava into their chaotic family.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Amaya Jiwe/Zari Tomaz | Zari Tarazi, John Constantine/Gary Green, Nora Darhk/Ray Palmer, Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>44</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. all you had to do was stay (had me in the palm of your hand)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi guys!  This is my first work on Ao3, but it isn't my first time writing.  I hope you like this fic.<br/>It's going to have a lot of angst, and when I say a lot, I mean A LOT.  Because i fkcing love angst.  But there's also a ton of fluff, so hopefully you're not crying your eyes out at any given time.  I'm not sure how many chapters this is going to have yet, but I want it to have a lot.  My posting schedule would be once every week on Sunday, as I have stupid fcking school (jokes school is ok sometimes i guess) and I'm in the year before GCSEs.  I might be late posting, but I swear, I will try my best to not forget about this because i have absolutely no resposibilities and to try and upload as much as possible in a consistent fashion.  Most of my chapters will be 5000-10,000 words long, or somewhere in between.  If I fall short, it is either because my next chapter is going to be long, or because that chapter was meant to be short, or because I had no time.</p><p>Anyway, I really do hope you like my writing, but please constructively criticise me, so yeah.  Or just flat out say I HATE THIS.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ava stared at Sara, wondering why, on any earth on any universe, she had chosen to come on this mess of a time ship.  Gary had bumped into Nora, spilling her coffee everywhere and Sara had her hand on Nora’s shoulder, restraining her from diving into Gary and smushing him into a ball of goo.  Gary, on the other hand, was whimpering behind Sara, scared for his life and he had a reason to, with the glare that Nora was sending his way.  She stared at Sara again, shaking her head and frowning.  Sara just shrugged and released Nora, who glared at Gary one more time and straightened her shirt.</p><p>‘So, what’s this meeting about anyway?’ Nora had asked, looking at everyone standing around the table.  They had all shrugged, not knowing the reason behind why the meeting was called and not knowing who called the meeting.</p><p>Ava frowned.  Was no one going to mention what had happened just a minute ago or was that a common occurrence.  If so, Ava Sharp was getting worried.  How had the Legends managed to convince Rip that they were good enough to save the timeline?  She shook her head, placing her hands on the table and said, ‘I called the meeting.’</p><p>There was an, almost comical, gasp from around the table.  Sara snickered and gestured for Ava to keep talking.</p><p>She sighed again, wondering why she ever agreed to Rip’s request.  ‘Rip asked me to supervise you guys, as he obviously doesn’t trust you, so here I am.’  She glanced up at them slowly, trying not to let them see how afraid she was, so afraid that a bunch of misfits would not accept her into their little family, because, after the few missions she had had with them, through every annoying and inconvenience they had caused, the one thing that stuck with her the whole time was how the Legends, through thick and thin, had stuck together as a family.  But of course, Ava Sharp was strong, had always been strong and independent, and she knew she had a job to do and couldn’t waste her time on silly little emotions like these.</p><p>There was a collective silence and Ava could feel the stares baring into the back of her head.  She knew what was coming next, she could feel the flurry of annoyance behind everyone’s eyes, she knew they would want her to go, she knew-</p><p>Before she could continue her train of thought, Zari pipped up.</p><p>‘Cool dude, just don’t go around snapping Ray’s arm every time he annoys you.’ </p><p>She was referring to that time in the Time Bureau, where Ava had flipped Ray on his back and twisted his arm.  Ray had said ‘why do you have to be so mean?’  And Ava had remembered feeling so annoyed at him and the Legends in general, but now, now all she really wanted was for them to accept her into their family. </p><p>Ava, who had grew up her whole life without a stable family, always had to do things for herself and she was tired of it.  She wanted someone, someone she could rely on.  Someone she knew would be with her forever.</p><p>Ava’s head snapped up, her wide eyes looking at Ray, wondering if he was going to be mad.  She did not expect to see him laughing lightly, looking at Ava as if they had been friends forever.  She looked around and everyone seemed alright with her joining the ship.  Well.  Everyone except for Sara. </p><p>Sara Lance.  The one person (although she wouldn’t admit it to herself) she wanted most to be happy about her coming on the ship.  The one person she thought actually cared about her, who seemed happy when they were talking together.  That person seemed to have disappeared, and the person staring back at her had a frown on her face. </p><p>‘You’re coming on the ship?  Because Rip asked you to?’  Sara’s voice floated towards her, snapping Ava out of her trance.  There was an emotion on Sara’s face, an emotion which Ava did not have the energy to decipher. </p><p>‘Well, yeah- why else would I be on?’  Ava had replied, wondering if she didn’t make that clear enough before, although she was clearly lying to herself. Yes, initially, she had been forced to join and had ignored Rip for a week, but then she came to her senses and started to see why it was a good idea. Not only would she be able to keep the Legends on track, she would also, hopefully, find a family.  However, she was also surprised to see Sara looking down, and wondered if Sara was upset that Ava had said that she was just coming on for Rip's sake.  For a moment, Ava considered telling her that she did, indeed, want to join them, but after thinking about it more, she realised that Sara might not care about her in the way that Ava did.</p><p>‘Um, should I just leave then?’  Ava asked quietly, wondering what she did to make Sara dislike her.  She had thought that their feud in the Time Bureau was over, that they had mended things and that they were becoming tentative friends.  'I can always tell Rip that you guys shoved me out using a time courier.' Ava tried not to show how upset she was, but it probably showed on her face, as Nate and Ray gave her sympathetic glances.</p><p>‘No.’  Sara said shortly, before she sighed and said, ‘I mean- if Rip told you to come, then we have to obey his orders.  Amaya can show you your room.’  With that, Sara promptly walked out of the room and never looked back.</p><p>Ava glanced around the room, the atmosphere suddenly becoming tensed and awkward, until Amaya broke the silence and smiled at Ava, offering to bring her to her room.  Ava had followed, looking so much like a lost puppy, that Amaya couldn't help but feel sorry for her.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. she wears short skirts, I wear T-shirts (but what do you really prefer)?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>She smiled at Ava, looking, trying to decipher if Ava was annoyed at her.  Ava smiled back in return, wondering if Sara was having some sort of stroke, what with the way her eye was twitching.  Ava coughed quietly, seeming to realise that Sara was not telling the truth.  She wanted to push more, but her relationship with Sara was quite tentative.</p>
<p>Or,</p>
<p>Sara goes down memory lane and Ava might just be the only one who can help her.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Chapter 2 lets goooo :)</p>
<p>We shall see how long I can write consecutively for, before I start imagining stuff in my head.  jOKING.  Also I started reading 'Children of Blood and Bone' and omg I can't- </p>
<p>I'm literally 240 pages into it and I have cried at least 10 times over this fcking thing.  OH jeez-</p>
<p>anyway- </p>
<p>heres like 2000? words about Sara reminiscing about Laurel and Snart.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sara left the room, feeling hot headed.  She wanted to cry.  Why did she have to go and act like that to Ava?  What was wrong with her?  She hated herself for putting the one person who, since the very start, was ready to become her friend.  This was why she had no one.  Her sister was dead, her ex-girlfriend had left her to go to Dubai with her father, and the Legends were only staying because they had to fix all the anomalies, or as they liked to call it, encores.  Sara had somehow made it to her quarters, and without even realising, had paused to stare at the clean, metallic slate in front of her.  She snapped out of her trance, allowing the face recognition to scan her eye.  It beeped once, signifying that the door was about to open.  She walked in, head in her hands, eyes closed, which was why when she looked up, she was surprised to see the face of Leonard Snart. </p>
<p>Well, that, and the fact that he was dead and had stayed dead, for more than two years.</p>
<p>Leo Snart, Captain Cold, the sacrifice.  She had lost him too, when he had sacrificed his life to save the Legends from Vandal Savage.  Leo Snart, the person who she had nearly froze to death with, when their ship broke, all the while talking about how much they hated each other.  Leo Snart, who had punched Mick in the face so he wouldn't kill himself.  She looked back again, convinced she was seeing a hallucination, but also hoping that what she saw was the Leo Snart from Earth-X, because that was the closest thing she could ever have to a family.  (Or that was what she convinced herself at least).  Of course he was a hallucination.  She wasn’t lucky enough for Snart to come back.  With that, she broke down crying, her shoulders shaking violently, not even slowing down with every deep breath she took to try and suppress her emotions.</p>
<p>Even the Legends, who Sara was convinced were her family, had started to go behind her back, started to whisper about things and stopping instantly the moment Sara walked into the room.  This led her to believe that they did, indeed, hate her and wanted her to go die in a pit full of snakes. </p>
<p>Sara sighed wistfully, reminiscing about all the good times she had had with her sister, Laurel.  Before she knew it, bitter, angry tears were streaming down her face again, tears which Sara swiped away as fast as she could.  Tears which Sara tried to stop, but they wouldn't listen, they wouldn't stop falling.  She soon gave up, succumbing to the darkness, which she welcomed with open arms.  She leaned back, burying her face in the pillow Laurel had given her ever since they were innocent kids.</p>
<p>She soon fell asleep, waking up only when a rough hand shook her whole body.  Her eyes opened to find Mick, standing in his night gown, eating a slice of pizza, and dropping crumbs all over the floor, which she had just vacuumed, trying to get her attention for something 'important'.  According to Mick, a level zero importance would be something like a machine gun being present in ancient Egypt and a level ten would be running out of beer.  So, Sara had thought, excuse her if she wasn't in a panic frenzy when Mick Rory said there was something important going on.  And she was right.</p>
<p>Mick had woken her up at 3 AM to tell her that Ava had drank the last of the whiskey, then had the audacity (yes he used that word) to chuck the bottle away.  Mick was very upset about as he had heard, from Charlie, that it was a particularly good bottle.  He had growled at Ava for a while, but after realising that that did not affect her in any way, he brought her to Sara's quarters, shook Sara awake, and now, here they were.  Sara, eyes puffy from crying all night, Mick, grumpy from not being able to get the same whiskey again (although he could have asked Gideon to fabricate it but Mick doesn't think like that), and Ava, annoyed from being dragged in here by Mick. </p>
<p>Sara stared at Mick, eyebrows raised, wondering if he expected her to be outraged or something.  Mick stared back, as if he was wondering why Sara wasn't reprimanding Ava for drinking a whiskey that they all shared.  Ava just stood there, wanting to go back to her quarters and go back to sleep, and still awkward from their conversation earlier.  Sara sighed.  Unless she said something, Mick was obviously not going to leave it alone. </p>
<p>After explaining at least ten times to Mick that he could just ask Gideon to fabricate it in the fabrication room and telling Ava that she could just leave as she did nothing wrong, Sara could finally go back to bed.  She was about to fall asleep again, when Nate came barging in, pounding on the door as he came in.  Sara nearly threw something at him, then decided against breaking another one of her vases and having to clean it all up again.  She sighed.  Was she ever going to get to sleep tonight. The answer was no.</p>
<p>Nate Heywood came running in, looking as if he had seen a ghost, or ghosts.  He locked the door behind him, staring at Sara with terrified, wide eyes.  Sara was, for a moment, worried, then Nate grabbed his shoulder and turned around.  Sara sighed.  He clearly drank a whole cup of Amaya’s vision root thing, even though he knew he was supposed to have just a little bit.  Sara sighed again, realising that although they were in no real danger, Nate was awfully close to banging his head on a sharp bit of furniture.</p>
<p>Sara got up from her bed, still groggy, and dragged Nate and put him on it.</p>
<p>‘Stay.’  She said firmly, ‘and don’t even think about getting up, even if there are things surrounding you.’</p>
<p>Nate smiled at her ‘You look like an elephant’</p>
<p>Sara was about to shove him off her bed and let him injure himself, but then a second later, Nate started screaming about how there was an elephant.  Sara sighed again, tucked him in, made sure that he understood that he wasn’t allowed to leave and that he had to sleep it off, then she walked away.</p>
<p>And of course, who else other than Ava Sharp would she have bumped into?</p>
<p>‘Sorry,’ Sara murmured, embarrassed about the way she had treated Ava yesterday when she was told that Ava would be joining them.</p>
<p>‘It’s fine.’  Ava had said back, walking away swiftly, as if she wanted as much distance between them as possible.  Sara had caught Ava looking at her eyes, knowing that it was puffy from crying so much.  Sara wanted Ava to stay, she wanted to explain the reasons why she wanted Ava to stay, not for Rip, but for her.  But of course not.  She couldn’t, not with the way she treated Ava earlier, and besides, Ava didn’t like her anyway.  Why would Ava Sharp, one of the kindest and fiercest people she knew, want to be friends with her?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>----------</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sara somehow made it to the kitchen, walking as fast as she could, so not to bump into anyone else.  Unfortunately, she was out of luck.  Sara scoffed, laughing at herself.  When did she ever have any luck?  Her whole life was a mess.  She knew she shouldn't be feeling this way, that the Legends were her family and that they cared about her more than anyone else she knew.  But still.  She couldn't help it when she slammed the door shut and stomped over to the fridge.  In hindsight, Sara would realise that she had been acting like a grumpy teenager, but right now, she couldn't bring herself to care.  She just wanted to be alone for more than two minutes.  Why was that so hard for everyone to understand?  And why was everyone so happy?</p>
<p>She groaned as Amaya's gentle laugher floated towards her, a warm, welcoming laugh that was beckoning her to join them at the table that Amaya, Zari and Ray were sitting in.  She glared at the fridge so hard, and to her, it seemed as if the world was muted.  Sara knew she was being irrational, she knew there was no 'real' reason why she was behaving like this, but what with the reminder of Laurel and Snart's deaths, the way she treated Ava (how Ava probably didn't like her anymore) and the way she just couldn't get any sleep, no matter how much she tried.  She groaned again when she realised the tequila had run out.  How was she supposed to get through today, when it wasn’t even five AM yet and she already needed a drink?  Honestly, Sara thought, she had to get this under control before someone started noticing.  Because what would she say then?  That she had started to remember everyone she lost and that the person she wanted most as a friend hates her now?  The more she dwelt on these thoughts, the more upset she got and it kept going on, until she could feel a hot, burning sensation behind her eyes. Her tears welled up, threatening to break free.  Before she could dwell on her thoughts any longer, a hand tapped her shoulder.  Sara turned, letting out an involuntary gasp when she was who it was.  Ava was standing there, in a dressing gown.  Sara widened her eyes before realising that Ava probably wanted her to get out of the way so she could get a drink.  Sara sighed and scooted away, keeping an eye on Ava whilst struggling to say something, anything.  Anything to break the tension and the awkward moments between them. </p>
<p>Ava raised a brow at Sara, as if to ask, ‘are you okay?’  With that, Sara started scrambling for an answer.  An answer that won’t let on how much she misses talking to Ava.  How much she misses the light, comfortable banter that they had.  They hadn’t known each other for a long time and only had two missions together so far, but Sara felt a connection to Ava.  A connection she only felt with her sister.  A connection so full of trust.  It was only then did Sara realise that Ava had asked her a question and wanted an answer in return. </p>
<p>‘Ye- yeah, I’m fine.’  Sara had stuttered, after clearing her throat.  She smiled at Ava, looking, trying to decipher if Ava was annoyed at her.  Ava smiled back in return, wondering if Sara was having some sort of stroke, what with the way her eye was twitching.  Ava coughed quietly, seeming to realise that Sara was not telling the truth.  She wanted to push more, but her relationship with Sara was quite tentative.  So she settled for nudging Sara’s shoulder lightly, smiling at her, in a desperate, last resort way to trying to tell Sara that she was there for her. </p>
<p>Sara knew this, obviously, but she couldn’t go to Ava and start ranting about how she misses a sister who’s been dead for years.  Because Ava wouldn’t get it.  (or so she thought.).  Ava wouldn’t understand the pain she felt when her ‘dad’ from Earth-X told her about how she was useless and that being Bi was a sin. Sara knew, in theory, her dad had accepted her.  Her real dad, that is, not that person who looked like her dad.  She had tried to console herself with this, but after a while, the pain just kept on coming and coming and refused to sink back down.  Her heart clenched as she herself was perfectly happy and comfortable with being bi and she knew she shouldn’t care about what others say.  But it was a person who looked, and sounded, exactly like her dad.  And no matter how hard she tried to push the pain away, it was just another constant reminder that she would always get hate for who she was.  That’s why she knew she could never tell Ava. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This was basically a filler chapter to set out the scene more </p>
<p>:)</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>oK, so how was that?  In my opinion, it was kind of blocky and the words did not flow as smooth as I hoped it to flow, but I have an English essay to write tomorrow (which I'm not going to do) so I was kind of thinking about that.  The next chapters are going to be written so much better, but I had to write this in half an hour, so sorry for that.  Please comment if you have anything you want me to add, or if you just want to make me happy.  Also Kudos are extremely appreciated.  Thank you and I hope you stick with me :). This is quite a short chapter with only 852 words, but it's the first chapter and I wanted this to be an introduction to how Ava joined the Legends.  I promise the next few chapters are going to be so much better and flow more smoothly.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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